in case you missed it – the 74/9/5 edition

In case you missed it – Real Madrid vs. Olympique Lyon [2011-03-16, Champions League round of 16 vuelta]. Warning: post very image-heavy and could take a long time to load.

Well, we finally made it past the round of 16 in the Champions League for the first time in seven seasons, since the 2004-05 season (that’s 2,582 days). In that time, we’ve had 74 players play in this competition, nine (yes, nine!) coaches and five presidents (well six really, since FP was president twice).*

ONE. So, high fives and hugs all around! We all deserve it!

(You know, I’ve often fantasized about backing Iker up into the goalpost and then…)

TWO. The Bernabéu was quite impressive last night (at least I thought so), and of course the Ultras made a sign. This one said, “the bigger the objective is, the greater the glory when it’s achieved.”

THREE. Let’s go (more or less) chronologically through this ICYMI. The players arrived at the Bernabéu in the afternoon, looking quite boss (except for Iker’s purse), with Cris singing along with whatever was playing on his music player. Luis Fonsi?

FOUR. In the locker room, Juan Carlos got to sit at locker number 15, between Xabi and Sergio Canales. Yay, no fire extinguishers for him this time around! Juan Carlos had the number “26” shirt and Manu Adebayor “28” although he sat at his regular spot at the number six locker.

FIVE. Sergio, Cris and Pepe were muy cariñosos with the kids prior to the game, especially Pepe. They patted them on the head, high-fived them, winked, and Pepe even waved at the kids who were to usher Lyon’s players out across the tunnel.

And for some reason which I cannot fathom, Sergio still hasn’t taken me up on that offer to help adjust his shorts prior to the games.

SIX. To no one’s surprise, Cris started the game. I love our team! Especially dancing Xabi.

SEVEN. Before the game, there was a moment of silence for Japan, with a sign on the field, and Madrid’s players also wore black armbands again.

EIGHT. My favorite picture from the game (the strange angle finally works for the Real Madrid photographer!), which should give you a clue as to what’s up next…

All three goal scorers also blew kisses at the crowd. After the game, Marcelo said his was aimed at his wife. At one point, Marcelo also tried to get the Bernabéu excited.

TEN. Some moments prior to the start of the second half. I like how Xabi can multitask – he gives instructions to Pepe at the same time that he does something that I think we’d all like to do for and to him.

There were also scenes of Iker being all captainy (it’s very sexy) and shouting motivational things at the team, along the lines of “dale, dale, dale, venga van metidos eh, venga van fuertes desde el inicio eh!”

ELEVEN. Cris went back to having old Hollywood hair for this game. I like this better than any of his fashion hairstyles.

Cris wasn’t at his best, but he wanted to compete. After the game, he said, “I was a bit scared, but that’s normal since I never had a muscle injury. I played a bit on the limit; I was 70 percent… I was out for 14 days and you could tell. The decision to play was mine. I talked with the doctors and the physios, and they told me that there was no risk of injury. Mourinho asked me how I was and I told him I was good and let me play. The most important thing was that I didn’t injure myself.” Cris also had the bad luck of being selected to do drug testing after the game, the same as during the first leg.

I loved how Mou just didn’t want to let go of Cris’ hand as he subbed out! Cris was like, why is he still holding on? It reminds me of that never-ending handshake between Pepe Reina and Iker. And right after he came out, Cris had a brace placed on that left leg and elevated it.

TWELVE. Iker went back to being a vegetable for this game.

Other vintage Iker moments: showing off his profile, and yelling at his defense.

THIRTEEN. Esteban Granero got some minutes, so we got to see that he was clean-shaven! And watch him speak English in postgame declarations here! Esteban is also the next one to get the Real… interview treatment; his segment will air this Friday! I wonder if he will do them in both castellano and English?

FOURTEEN. I think Mesut needs a haircut. On the other hand, his hair really has bounce, doesn’t it? You think he was relieved to be able at last to play an entire game?

FIFTEEN. Of course Zinedine Zidane was there, and Vicente del Bosque as well! VDB got an ovation from the Bernabéu when he made his way to his seast. And you can see a bit of Fernando Hierro next to him too! And spotted in a palco (once again, the one belonging to El Corte Inglés) was his former teammate Fernando Redondo! Also at the Bernabéu were Míchel, Juan Carlos Ferrero, German national team coach Jöachim Löw and Franz Beckenbauer.

SIXTEEN. From the banquillo, Cris celebrated Di María’s goal with a big smile and applause. He and Karim also had a very fascinating conversation, at least I assume it was, because Karim was going to drink his water, but stopped to talk some more.

SEVENTEEN. Also drinking water was Iker, when the medical staff came to check Marcelo out at the end of the first half. Luckily, it wasn’t anything serious and he was able to play the second half.

EIGTHEEN. At one point, Ricky Carvalho just couldn’t believe he had gotten the yellow card. The broadcasters showed the tackle in slow motion, so we could judge whether the card was deserved or not. But I have no idea whether it was or not, because all I can focus on is that slow motion shot of Ricardo’s ass going across my screen. Sergio needs this kind of treatment.

NINETEEN. For your viewing pleasure, a bit of tongue. Don’t you love HDTV? You can see the individual sweat drops on Xabi’s forehead!

TWENTY. After the game, both Madrid and Lyon’s players put on shirts saying “Ánimo Abidal,” as UEFA had nixed their proposal to wear them before the game. So instead, the big screen at the stadium showed the message, which was received with a round of applause. What a nice gesture, no? In postgame declarations, several players, including Cristiano, Ángel di María, Karim Benzema and Marcelo, as well as Mourinho, sent their best wishes for a speedy recovery to Eric Abidal. Others did it via twitter.

The only bad thing about this is that players are supposed to take their shirts off after the games, not put more on! But in this case, it’s alright, because it was a wonderful gesture.

TWENTY ONE. More postgame moments. Marcelo imitates Richard Nixon; Ozi shakes his bouncy hair; Iker and Sergio end the game just the way the started it, with a hug; and Sergio greets everyone – Chendo, Aitor Karanka, Agustín Herrerín – as he comes off the field.

TWENTY TWO. The Xabi Alonso pose section.™

Whatever he does, he always ends up with his hands on his hips!

Once again, Xabi clocked up the most kilometers on his team. In this game, he ran 11.4 km. Sami Khedira was second with 11.2 km, followed by Ozi with 11 km.

TWENTY THREE. The Mou corner.

After the game, Mou praised his team, saying “we deserved to move on to the quarterfinals, we played with security, we had a complete game offensively and defensively.” However, the Bernabéu did not live up to Mou’s expectations: “they were good but they can do better. They played very little, like that player who plays well for five minutes and then doesn’t touch the ball for 10 more. I would have liked them to participate for 90 minutes, but perhaps they’ll be better in the quarterfinals.”

TWENTY FOUR. Cris was satisfied with the Bernabéu, and last night made Sergio happy.

TWENTY FIVE. Looking ahead: the draw for the quarterfinals will take place tomorrow at 12h in Nyon. There are no restrictions for the draw, meaning that Madrid could end up facing any of the other seven teams (Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, Inter, Shakhtar Donetsk, Schalke, Barcelona). It should be interesting, because there are some former Madrid players on several of these teams. The games will take place on April 5 and 6, and April 12 and 13, meaning that if we draw Barcelona, April will from hereon out be known as the month of the clásicos, as we will have the two Champions League games, as well as the Liga game and the Copa del Rey final.

Meanwhile, we have five starters that are one yellow card away from serving a suspension: Cristiano, Sergio, Pepe, Di María and Carvalho.

The team trained again this afternoon, to start preparing for this weekend’s derbi madrileño.

the presidents: FP, Fernando Martín, Luis Gómez Montejano, Ramón Calderón, Vicente Boluda and FP again. Some of them are just mere footnotes, no? By the way, Fernando Martín was at the Bernabéu for this game.

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I almost cried at the end with the gesture to Abidal….this just shows that when things like that happens, everyone can come together,even with such rivalry like between Madrid and Barcelona.It was beautiful.

p.s. re. the delay in your appointment to Ramos’ shorts adjuster, well that may be because I too submitted my CV for his consideration…. I guess he just hasn’t gotten around to a decision as yet! lol :-p

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!! this really was image heavy … but who cares!!! *a little dance* … I was soooo happy for Marcelo scoring the 1st goooooooooool…. because he is my favorite player after the 5 WC Champs … and because I like his name, he is adorable, love the hair… and because he wears my favorite number of all times 12… 😀

I love Iker acting as a captain… he is sooo sexy!!!

as for the shirts… I started laughing … because the uefa didn’t want to do it… and soo in away they were like w/e … screw you .. we are going to show support… It was a great thing to do…

Una, I love you and the way you spoil us with the pics and gifs. I think we can make a queue for adjusting Sergio’s shorts 🙂
I personally hated Cristiano’s hair, I prefer the mohawk.
I loved what Sergio tweeted ‘MI pase a cuartos’ – nice, sweet selfishness 🙂
I think we are all very happy with our team being finally qualified for the quarterfinals. 🙂 I only hope we don’t get Barca… not yet please….

P.S I’m preparing my report for you guys. It’s on the way, so just little more patience, no help is going on 😉

I love Cristiano’s hair, he reminds me of Richie rich =) But goshh UNA you always leave me wandering for a min after i look at the pictures and read your comments lol For example the multi-tasking Xabi ” he gives instructions to Pepe at the same time that he does something that I think we’d all like to do for and to him” OMG no words for that lol

I just want to say thank you, Una, for doing such a fantastic job every day! There is no way I could be as informed about Real Madrid from so far away without all of your hard work. This is another in a great line of fabulously written blog entries. You rock!

i’m a die-hard iker girl, through and through, but that screencap of sergio ruffling the little boy’s hair in the tunnel just about made me swoon.

this was also the first match i actually got to watch on TV (i usually have to watch through a really dodgy online feed) and it was FANTASTIC. i love the ICYMI recaps (thanks, una!) but it was really thrilling to see everything happening live instead of reading about it afterwards or trying to squint at a slow/frozen feed and figure out what was going on.

i’m also delighted they wore the t-shirts afterwards, UEFA be damned. wonderful gesture!

I understand about the online streaming. After I’d finally find one that didn’t freeze, then it’d cut out during the game for “copyright infringement” That happened like 4 times. >:\ And OF COURSE, I missed DiMaria’s goal…blah!

WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE ARE THROUGH!!!!!!!!!!! HALA MADRID!!!!!!!!!!

i knew when i saw xabi and his roaming hand that it would be in the post and i was NOT disappointed!
kay said thay esteban did interview in english as well!!!! i cannot wait!
the post is wonderful as always una. i remember you saying you started the blog last year b/c you felt it would be the year of La Decima…perhaps you were only a year early!

i will seriously cry if we draw shalke and i am not sure my poor heart can handle 4 clasicos next month. regardless, it will be a wild ride and i am SUPER PROUD of our boys!

I’m nervous about the draw, though. And as much as I would like to get revenge on Barcelona for the game we’d all like to forget, (and I might get attacked here saying this), I’m still not 100% sure we can beat them in all those games in April. Barca were brilliant against Arsenal, and despite the convincing scoreline, we weren’t against Lyon.

Una..once again, a very big THANK YOU!!! I really enjoyed watching their photos and videos. I love the look of Cris and Esteban and as well as Xabi. And not to forget, the photo of Pepe on air with a big smile, Marcelo reaching for him, and Sami holding. Good job Mr. Photographer. And oh, I would love to be one of those kids. Good good day everyone.

What a victory! Great to see the attack really working. Marcelo was MotM. He created so much opportunity, while keeping tuned to his positioning on the counter.
Mou is too funny calling out the crowd for not ‘playing’ hard enough for the 90 minutes. He’s using his player psychology on the fans to get them more fired up for the next game.
What if they do draw Barca in the cuartos? o-O The stress will be too much…

FI.NA.LLY. I’m just bursting with so much happiness that, finally, we’re in the quarterfinals again. It’s been too long, the happy feeling in this stage has somewhat been forgotten already. Haha. But all that’s in the past already because we finally made it!!!!!!

Anyway, thank you so so much for this awesome recap! I was so looking forward to this after the game. 🙂

Hi Una, I think it’s time to tell you how great this side is!!! I follow you since the CL game against Milan last november (because I exactly thought what you wrote: What in the world did Xabi do to make Howard Webb hate him so much?) You’re great!!!
I love all of your post because I’m from Germany what makes it difficult to watch Primera Division… although I’m an Arsenal fan and a big Fabregas fan (and don’t know if I have to become a little of a Barca fan some day) I really, really like Real Madrid and every single player and Mou of course!
I’m very happy they finaly beaten Lyon and made it to the last eight!!!

By the way in the pic with the “multitasking” Xabi I can’t look away from Marcelo shaking his hair in the background! So funny!!!

I really, really enjoyed this match! I thought the team played great AS A TEAM. And Benzema was all over the field. I’m really glad that Mou was able to get into his head. And that Zinedine is able to give him support. I’m sure that means a lot to him.

I do have to say tho that I was a bit peeved that during the moment of silence for Japan, there were some clowns in the stands hollering, etc. That was really disrespectful, imo.

Una, I must admit that after finding your blog and reading the ICYMI’s, I find myself trying to figure out what parts of the game will make the ICYMI. For example, I never used to notice the Xabi poses but now I can’t help but notice them. Fantastic job, Una….as always!